The Maiden's Acceptance
by Split-Girl
Summary: Sawada Ruri, from clumsy no-good girl to a child prodigy hacker is the result of her past. She became the opposite of her original self as a result of bullying and something her parents can't figure out. Reborn had to deal with her personality as she was too withdrawn, apathetic and a Hikikomori taking Online Correspondence. What will it take to change her? Fem!Tsu
1. Chapter 1

Troublesome Student

Reborn was NOT expecting this as one week into the residence alone, he knew this, will be his new student who will be difficult.

She was too gloomy.

Her bedroom color, decor, choice of fashion with color to match, are all dang gloomy. The only source of light, were the nightlights, all of which are a comfortable level of yellow-orange.

Her mother was worried about her behavior which was a drastic change.

She used to be a cheerful girl close to her parents for seven years, then when she wasn't good in school to the point of getting bullied, she changed her personality that she rejected people, and her bullies now victims when she finally retaliated from the bullying, sending them with worse injuries than hers. She was left alone since and retreated to her room, quitting public school, enrolled online and hardly talks anymore that Nana felt she's the only one in the house and 'having a ghost for a houseguest' she wondered where her little jewel had gone, replacing her with a STRANGER.

Nana BEGGED him for help which was why she was quick to send him a reply.

Indeed, Ruri no longer talked.

Looked at anyone and anything with apathy and indifference. Ideas to go out are met with disdain or disgust.

Her eyes do the talking for her.

The bullying probably broke her into rejecting anyone and anything he was wondering how will he bring Gokudera Hayato into the fold...

He came up with a farce eventually.

'...so that is the problem with the successor?' Gokudera Hayato mused as Reborn told him what to expect.

'Yes. This, is bad.' said Reborn. 'Maman doesn't know what happened in her first semester in Grade One beyond getting bullied.' he said. 'Something else should have caused such a drastic change. Since its impossible to put you in school with her as planned, I'll have to make you stay with the Sawadas as a Homestay Guest but you'll have to attend an actual public school. Your job is to find more potential famiglia members for the family. Some people with personalities to reach out to her and teach her that not everyone outside her home will hurt her. At home, try to reach out to her as well.'

'She already is told about circumstances but she just thinks I'm telling her nonsense.' Reborn grunted. 'I can't even shoot her with a Dying Will Bullet or she'll die for real since she doesn't care about anything beyond eating, sleeping and computers. She ignores me we're getting nowhere.'

'She can afford to ignore you?!' Gokudera squawked.

'I tried everything. Believe me. But when I unplugged her computer once...' Reborn twitched. 'She grabbed me and threw me out the window.'

The boy's jaws dropped.

'She forgot it was closed, so I bashed my body against glass. She throws hard.'

'No touching her computer, I get it.' Gokudera shivered. She just defenestrated Reborn just for unplugging her computer!

If that's her angry...

'But still...there's no way maman would pay for what she's got.' said Reborn. 'She has state-of-the-art Supercomputer with hardware and software to match. And what she does with it all is unknown, nevermind how she got it. Computers isn't my specialty beyond security hacking.'

'Did maman say anything?'

'No...other than computers, she somehow purchased an already-paid Treadmill and Elliptical Trainer. At least she exercises...'

So Gokudera got an in as a Homestay Guest.

'Ruri-chan! We have a homestay guest at least come down to meet him!' Nana called out.

'...will she?' Reborn wondered. 'She never leaves that room unless its to exercise and a bath.'

Nana was fretful and hopeful...

The door opened.

Gokudera was nervous as he'd see his future boss in person as Reborn didn't give a photo.

She has very long, milk-chocolate hair, as a result of years of not going out but has bangs covering the middle of her forehead just up to the tip of her eyebrows. Her hair was a lighter shade than her mother's who has natural brown hair.

Gokudera felt that had she worn a white dress, he'd mistake her for a ghost. Her hair that was up to her knees draped around her and in one of her hands, is a scrunchie.

She has pale skin from years of NOT going out. She wore a black leotard with orange tights with yellow leg warmers and white running shoes and due to her exercise preference, has really toned, shapely legs and arms.

Her expression was as expected, apathetic.

She simply came down to exercise and that was it!

'Uhm, I'm Gokudera Hayato, nice to meet you.' said Gokudera Hayato nervously. 'I'm a homestay guest from Italy.'

She looked at him...and merely nodded slowly before going for the treadmill.

'...quiet...' he croaked out.

'...sorry about her Gokudera-kun, she hasn't talked in years.' Nana sighed. 'Papa and I are worried...he was wondering if we'll be OK when he left last year for work...everything...we tried everything. Sometimes I wonder if on the way home from school, an alien replaced her.'

'What of her computers?' Reborn asked.

'That? It came out of the blue!' Nana exclaimed. 'Strangely, all paid for and papa swore the money all that cost would cost him a lifetime's worth of his salary yet its all paid and clear...we don't know how she did it...we tried asking but she hasn't said a word. She set everything up and next thing we know she used it all like she was used to it and her hands are fast in typing...papa once brought a colleague just to figure out what she's doing because she was so unresponsive...'

'What's she doing?' Gokudera asked her.

'She was trying to create a program but because at the time it was just started, he had no idea. We have no idea what program she was making either.' Nana shook her head.

That certainly explained why she defenestrated Reborn. He interrupted an important project.

'And her idea of birthday gifts? She dumps 100 million yen on both of us and holiday package for two people and they're honeymoon packages!'

'HUH?!'

'And for the life of me I have no idea how she gets that money...papa had his friend look into it again...and she was doing Stock Trading...and she causes tons of companies to put a lot of money that she somehow wins! She has tons of clients, one of whom is papa's own boss,' Reborn and Gokudera gaped at her. '-the grandpa who came here when she was seven but the thing was, she was using another identity. She gains billions of dollars in money for her clients and in turn she gets paid...and she uses much of what she earns for that mysterious project of hers.' said Nana helplessly. 'She wants nothing to do with the world outside our house we don't know what to do...I was hoping she'd be interested in a good-looking boy but...'

Gokudera's efforts began. He studied computers from Reborn just so she would let them in into her closed heart. He studied her equipment using the internet.

At school, because its his mission to find more people to be her subordinates as she can't have just one(him), he wondered who to bring home, some of them just don't feel mafia...sheesh...

When he showed his knowledge, she allowed him in her room.

But...he found two dangerous guys...he was no idiot, they were latent killers and has yet to awaken as one. One of them was sociable too, the other was a nutjob. Thus that guy sorta became his friend in school since its impossible to talk to Juudaime anyway...trauma caused her to become mute while struggling on something...whatever it was.

Come summer however...

'Ruri.' Reborn spoke during dinner. 'We're going to the beach this summer.' he said. 'Its a mandatory outing.'

Her response was CREEPY that made Nana and Gokudera flinch. Reborn hid his reaction but he was just as disturbed. The way she stared at him was something Onryo would do in J-Horror. She's clearly not happy with the idea.

'Its not for fun but training. Granted, you run on a treadmill indoors and using the Elliptical Trainer. You are to run laps on sand to train your body as nobody runs on straight roads forever. There will come a time you will be forced to run on soft ground.' he said. 'Try it as a challenge. You're already breaking records on your machines after all.'

Indeed.

Her Treadmill on max settings. Her trainer set to max resistance. Gokudera who has poor stamina has taken to using it as well with permission, working to max out his stats too.

Her stare changed.

She looked thoughtful...

Before nodding.

'Finally, out of the house for once...' Nana sighed in relief.

'Well, we got her to go out at least.' said Gokudera sheepishly. 'Even if its just for exercising...I'll invite that guy along.'

xxx

TakeSushi...

'A beach outing with your homestay family? Sure! I'm coming along!' Yamamoto Takeshi beamed as he was helping out waitering. 'What're they like?'

'Mama's nice but kinda troubled...but she's doing her best.' said Gokudera awkwardly. 'Her daughter Ruri-san became a recluse from bullying and hated going out...her education is through Online Correspondence.' he said. 'She was also traumatically-mute we did everything but all we got after months was to get her to agree to go to the beach with us to get her to like the outside world again. Not all people are bad after all.'

'Yeah, we gotta show her that, huh?' Yamamoto looked thoughtful. 'Not all kids are mean jerks. Look at us, we aren't!' he turned to his dad. 'Dad, its a whole summer stay at the beach, can I go?'

'Eh? Sure Take-chan! Haya-chan needs your help after all to get his lady host to go out again.' said Mr. Yamamoto. 'She just saw the bad side of kids, she should see the good side too. Its too early to give up on humanity through schoolyard bullying y'know.'

'Thanks!'

xxx

And so...

'Wow...so we get to have fun eh?' Yamamoto asked Gokudera.

'I wish its fun. Ruri-san looks like she's ready to hit the gym than swim.' Gokudera pointed at Ruri who wore a full-body suit and a cap complete with veils that covered the side of her face.

'And most girls wanted a tan, she clearly doesn't.' Yamamoto sweatdropped. Both boys stared with flyaway hairs. 'Er, what's she doing?'

'Our Home Tutor suggested she get used to running on soft ground as nobody runs on straight concrete forever.' said Gokudera. 'She's already in max settings on her Treadmill and other running machine back home you wouldn't believe how fast she can run...now, the whole summer is dedicated to running in the sand!'

'Heee...that's one stamina training...it looks too harsh.' said Yamamoto. 'Tripping and sinking aside, we might step on food too.'

'Food?'

'Hamaguri and Asari clams.'

'Geh?!'


	2. Digimon World once more

Digimon World once more

Summer...

'I knew we'd go to the beach, but her mind is so one-track I swear I got a new son at home.' Nana sighed to Reborn, sipping her coconut juice.

'...I honestly don't know what she's doing. I contacted Iemitsu who contacted that buddy of his, her program is now 90% complete.' said Reborn. 'Makes me wonder what kind of program it is now that she's gotten Gokudera's help. Normally we'd discover what kind of program it is at such a state but the security she put in puts government sites in shame. Its _that_ fortified.'

'My goodness!'

'We really need to know what happened years ago.' Reborn swore. 'What made her this way. She doesn't respond to anything that doesn't coincide with her goals. That program and keeping her body fit.'

'Sou ne...'

'I called in a favor some guy owed me to investigate too. He's figuring out by hacking her to copy her work but its been two months now...even he's having trouble, I can't believe it.'

'...'

'At any rate, until we figure out what that program is, she's clamped tighter than a live shellfish. That's the only way we can get her to talk.'

xxx

Gokudera and Yamamoto joined Ruri in her training but as they weren't as covered as she was, they were at risk of severe sunburn thus had to retreat and can only continue when the sun's away till sunset.

The thing was, its harder to run on sand where its soft, fluffy and you sink depending on your weight and how much force you put in.

'So, had fun at the beach kids?' Reborn asked.

'Its brutal!' Yamamoto gasped. 'Its this hard to run on sand?!'

'Training with nature is always the best.' said Reborn at the heavily-sweating teenagers. 'Most Olympic Athletes train in sand and the stronger ones do running in knee-deep water by the beach side as its the best stamina training but also the hardest...assuming they don't step on something that is.' he said. 'Ruri, what do you think? Harder than the Treadmill, no?' she nodded while sweating buckets. 'What do you think? I want to hear you talk.'

She tried but...

...no sound came out.

'!'

'N-nothing?!'

'...we need a doctor.' Reborn frowned as even the normally apathetic girl got worried.

xxx

Clinic in a small town by the beach...

'...you need a psychologist and a counselor.' said the ENT upon hearing how this came to be. 'Her throat's perfectly fine as well as her voice box even if she hasn't used it in years. Its more in her mind. Her trauma.' he told them. 'She needs to overcome what rendered her mute. It the only way out of this. Bullying alone cannot do this, this damage of such degree is caused by something bigger. Unless she tells you what it is through writing, you need to start from there.'

Was her verdict.

Ruri tried to wish a hole swallow her right there and right now because her mother, tutor and the boys looked at her.

Reborn originally thought she just chose to.

But the fact she REALLY lost her voice...

This, is bad.

If she's in trouble, she can't scream.

'Ruri...will you write something?' Nana pleaded. 'Please, what's wrong?'

Ruri knows full well what's wrong.

But for her, it hurt too much to even think about it that tears kept flowing. Her usual expression turned into utter grief.

'Ruri?!'

'Ruri-san?!'

She looked utterly inconsolable in her silent sobs however that got them all alarmed and frantic when something in her pouch she wore around her neck glowed...and something inside grew in size, stretched...and ripped. It was a small handheld device with a brown grip and buttons, and white center that got her to stop crying...as she held the device in wonder...and this time, crying in relief, cradling the device to her cheeks.

'...hunny?' Nana croaked out before Ruri gestured a request for writing materials.

'Doc, can we borrow your computer for its MSWord?' Reborn asked the doctor. 'She's faster typing than writing.'

She finally told them the truth.

She was once, a Chosen Child a couple months into her first year in Elementary.

The watch her father bought for her turned into a small gadget, and next thing she knows when she just wanted to do her homework, she was in another world where she discovered the existence of Digimons, and met her partner in its 'toddler form'. Digimons digivolve hence her Koromon became an Agumon, a three-feet tall orange dinosaur with belt accessories on its arms.

She traveled for days with a creature that became her first friend since she has no friends in school, singled out for being 'partial gaijin' and her clumsiness and being no-good in academics. She likes him as monsters were kinder to her than humans were!

But in her travels, she met another boy her age. A boy named Ichijouji Ken. They got to know each other since unlike kids in her school, Ken was shy, timid and insecure like herself and he has a partner called Wormmon, appropriate as he was a green caterpillar! He's no mean kid that she felt safe around him. When they played 20 questions...something was wrong.

'What's wrong Ruri-chan?' Yamamoto asked her.

The years are all wrong. They're both seven years old and yet the year they were in are three years apart making him younger than her yet they could be in the same world despite different 'time'. They had no idea what to make out of it. They're young and don't know much...but months later, they were in bad trouble even though their Digimon digivolved to Champion Form...they were near goners when a new boy saved them with his Cyberdramon and a band of digimon allies. He is Akiyama Ryo, older than them by four years...he sort of became their big brother figure. He had been investigating how he ended up to be there.

Eventually, they got to know each other more. And TMI in Ken's case because he was the way he was as a result of being 'the unfavorite', only remembering he existed when its meal times and paying for school fees. Both he and his brother are academically-pressured, both have high grades in school but his older brother has his near-perfect scores while his own grades were on Yuu-Levels he wondered if he'll be loved if he has Shuu-level grades. There were times he wished he had different parents, parents who actually gave a damn about him regardless of how he did in school that he was jealous of kids who had it better. But he was doomed to being ignored for his inferior Report Card scores compared to his perfect older brother.

His tale horrified his fellow kids who took to taking care of him as unlike him, they were loved by their parents and had healthy home lives so Ryo gave him the paternal love and Ruri gave him the maternal love he craved for and Ken flourished...and wished he had been born to them instead!

After joining Ryo in investigating, time started getting screwy...after much hardship that got their digimon digivolving to Ultimate Forms, they soon learned about the source of their troubles. The same monster Ryo defeated once yet appeared on their side of the world and this time, worked together to defeat him for good...but with a cost.

Only her partner has the ability to kill him with a cost. Digivolving to his Mega Form and the only one able to, he has an ability of great power at the expense of his own life...and die they did.

It then shot out black spores of some sort that Ryo protected her from as she was still in shock with her partner's death and Ken pushed both of them away, thus he got shot and was ill...until Ryo was pulled away before she too, was taken...back to the real world where not a minute passed by on the day she was taken yet she spent nearly a year in Digimon World...and gained immense knowledge in computers that she studied to make sense of what she gained in her head...while quitting school and signed up for online lessons as she hated the bullies and apathetic adults in school. She lost a chunk of herself on her partner's death and just didn't care about the world anymore and worrying about Ken's fate since he was ill with an unknown disease left behind by the enemy.

But three years later...the Digimon World manifested on the sky...and while things happened too fast in a matter of minutes, to her who was a former chosen saw everything play clearly. There were eight children compared to her era's three, putting up with five mega-level evil digimon who nearly caused two worlds to spill onto each other for mutual destruction. They would all have died if it wasn't for the next generation defeating their true enemy.

A week after that, she got mail asking for her help as people worldwide began poking their noses where it doesn't belong...so she worked to stonewall them while those who contacted her deleted their research data about the Digimon World.

'But why ask you for help? Why won't they do it on their own?' Reborn asked her.

Ruri typed, 'Its my duty as a Digi-Destined Child. With or without a partner, I must protect the other side. But since my Digivice came to life after years of being dead and it changed form even...my partner's reborn again and I'm needed again. I just hope my partner, the idiot won't die for the world again. I'm the last of my era now since Ken and Ryo's fates are unknown. I'll probably...fight on my own this time.'

'Ruri-san no!' Gokudera sputtered, 'Fighting all alone in some foreign world...'

'I'll get called whether you like it or not...just like how a computer swallowed me in my parents' room when I borrowed it from daddy to print my homework.'

As if mocking Gokudera, light shone from the computer...and Ruri was gone!

'RURI!' Nana squeaked as the MSWord screen became a yellow-screen with a black brick-like form shaped like a tamagotchi and a screen playing events, showing where Ruri was...

Inside a frigging computer.

Not only that, her clothes changed too.

She was wearing her full bodysuit earlier, now its a white, loose, formless off-shoulder shirt held in place by two straps with a tribal pattern at the hem in yellow and red, a dark orange bandanna on her head with her hair clearly tucked in, black biker shorts and a pair of white, red and black high-top sneakers that made her feet look unnecessarily bigger than it should with white loose knitted socks.

Reborn supposed the other world is NOT up to date in fashion, making the poor girl wear a style that's so out of date.

'...does going to another world warrant a dress code?' Yamamoto choked out. 'She was in swimwear earlier!'

'Hush! We should watch what's going on!' Gokudera hissed as they watched...

xxx

Digimon World...

Ruri found herself in what looks like toyland.

"Toyland? Never been here before." she blinked as she looked around. 'I put up with many towns and terrains but never a toyland!"

In the real world, her thoughts were appearing on the chatbox on the computer screen and her actions written as if a novel was being written before their eyes..

As she got out of the stuffed building blocks the size of buildings, trees with toys and stuffed animals hanging from their branches, and large, soft, spongy, hills.

But in these bouncy fields were endless earthen cribs, containing several small round creatures and some were eggs of different patterns the size of a small ball. All looking different.

"Oh my! Baby digimon!" she gasped out, marveling at how cute and sweet they looked. "One of them could be Agumon's baby form! I have to find him! It makes sense I ended up here after all!" she ran excitedly towards the cribs. "He's back! But where?!"

'Ruri!' she paused mid-run upon hearing a squeaky voice. 'Ruri! Over here!' she turned to the source of the voice. 2 o'clock away from her about ten cribs away, the eleventh crib has a bouncing black fluffy ball with three fluffy lumps on its head with glowing yellow eyes.

"Agumon?!" Ruri ran to that particular baby and picked it up, gently hugging it because its a baby.

'I'm back, Ruri...sorry I took so long.' said the baby. 'I was messed up real good. But...why won't you say anything?' it asked worriedly.

Ruri merely tapped her throat with a finger before shaking her head.

'You can't talk?!'

Ruri nodded.

'Oh crap, you're sick yet you still came here...I need to digivolve to protect you! You can't scream for help as you are now!' the baby cried worriedly. 'I'll stay by your side to protect you but I can't do it as a baby.' Ruri raised her digivice...and evolved her partner twice.

In the real world, the screen showed the digivolution transformation. From Botamon to Koromon...and Koromon to Agumon.

' _That's_ Agumon?!' Nana, Gokudera and Yamamoto gawked out. Reborn knew he had one hell of a report to make...but it would be a highly-absurd report.

The two clearly have a happy reunion going on and maybe Ruri can recover from trauma. Agumon died in his mega form and lost her first two friends and their partners to 'time' itself as all three of them came from different times yet ended up in the same world.

There goes her first two potential Guardians dammit. He thinks that losing her first two bonds might have contributed as well, not just her partner dying on her...

Back in there...

'Oh, a newcomer!' Elecmon, a small digimon commented as he was carrying a lot of fish. 'What're you doing here?'

'Ruri came back for me.' said Agumon. 'I was a Botamon a few minutes ago.'

'Ahh, you're one of 'them'!' Elecmon said with a knowing smile. 'As long as you're not bad guys, you're welcome here!'

'He's the caretaker of Primary Village, Elecmon.' said Agumon, introducing the newcomer. 'He takes care of all babies in this place.'

'Well, been doing it for as long as I remember.' said Elecmon. 'I'm not much for fighting like most digimon anyway...I take care of them all until they're ready to digivolve to Child-Level and leave home to start their own lives. But so many deaths happened lately because of the Digimon Emperor...not long ago so many eggs by the hundreds rained in here I got my work cut out for me!' he whined before perking up. 'But I'm used to it. You guys should see what's going on.' he advised. 'Go mainland to Server Continent, you won't find information on this island.'

'Island?'

'We're in File Island.' said Elecmon. 'Not much happens here, its safe and perfect for new life to be born. If there's trouble I can always count on Leomon and Andromon.'

Ruri looked thoughtful before using her Digivice on Agumon.

Agumon changed to GeoGreymon and into RizeGreymon, a bigger, but slimmer and more bipedal, armed version with one of his arms a nozzle.

Ruri flexibly jumped onto him to get onto his back and secured a hold on him.

'Hang on tight Ruri! We're gonna go!' and RizeGreymon flew around the island to look for others like them as Elecmon hinted that there's more Chosen Children since their days. That would mean more allies this time as he hated the idea of fighting alone. Who'll protect Ruri while he fights?

His partner who can't call for help when she needs it most because she's ill?

They eventually found some kids helping in rebuilding a village. 'Ruri! I found some kids! But kinda younger! I'm gonna approach them!' and he dove down below, and the gust of wind from his jets alerted them to his presence.

There were three boys and two girls, younger than Ruri.

'What the?!'

'An enemy?!'

The kids braced themselves, ready for a fight.

'Ahhh no, I'm not an enemy! I came here for help.' said RizeGreymon as he de-digivolved back to being an Agumon, and his partner, an older girl landed gracefully on the ground.

'Help?'

'Well, its been years since our time to fight yet my partner is called over again.' said Agumon. 'Is there trouble we haven't heard of about?'

'Oh, you're from an older generation.' the glasses girl mused. 'Probably older than Taichi-san and the others but you're kinda younger than them...'

'Well, she started her time when she was seven years old.' said Agumon. 'For now I'll do the talking. My partner lost her voice.'

'What?!'

'Oh dear, what can cause that?' the other girl gasped out.

'No idea but for now, its safe to stick around with you because she can't call for help as she is.' said Agumon anxiously and the look on their faces says it all as they'd hate to be in the senpai's situation as indeed, she can't call for help if trouble comes...and it'd be hard to rescue her. 'We'll do our fair share of the work in return for helping me keep her safe...and we need information. I was just recently reborn in Primary Village and Ruri was called back...what's going on?'

Well, they were told about the Digimon Emperor and his doings...and how they found out his identity, defeated him and made him see sense that what he did is NOT a game, and how he affected REAL LIVES he was horrified...and what truly changed him was the death of his partner Wormmon.

'That can't be!' Agumon cried in denial. 'I just hope its a different guy with the same name...' he stammered out as Ruri looked just as horrified.

'What do you mean?' the youngest boy asked him.

Agumon told him their long tale about his era and who was in it...and they have a damn good reason to be in denial, considering the _parenting_ they had to do.

In the real world, they got more than what Ruri gave them. She was holding back A LOT!

Well, its because what was the point when they won't understand and not believe her?

'I see...so its just you three alone in your time...that's got to suck!' the boy with goggle griped at the cringey idea as its hard enough with five of them as is and they fought with just three of them?!

'But we have to know if its the same guy.' said the blonde. 'We must confirm it first. If its different, their memory of their teammate is OK but if its the same...what changed him from the boy they knew to the jerk we know now?'

'We'll know soon if he shows up.' said goggles boy. 'Oh yeah, we should introduce ourselves! I'm Motomiya Daisuke, Ruri-senpai!' he greeted jovially.

'I'm Takaishi Takeru.' said blondie.

'Inoue Miyako, nice to meet you senpai!' said glasses girl.

'Hida Iori.' said the youngest.

'And I'm Yagami Hikari,' said the girl in pink.

'Sawada Ruri's her full name.' said Agumon as Ruri smiled at them. 'Shall we get back to work? Tell us what to do.'

'Well, we're rebuilding villages and towns so the digimon can move back in again.' said Daisuke. 'Its no easy job but more hands the better!' he said cheerfully.

So they spent the whole afternoon fixing buildings...how they got skilled in carpentry, was a mystery to those watching outside.

'Well, this is it for today, let's go back home.' said Miyako but Ruri tapped her shoulder to shrug. 'Ah, how to go home?' Ruri nodded. 'Well where did you come from? There should be a Gate there back to where you came from.'

'She came to Primary Village.' said Agumon. 'There could be a Gate back to Namimori over there?'

'Yup! We used a different Gate linking to Odaiba.' said Hikari. 'She can go home through there but we have to teach her how to use the Gates...'


	3. Ruri's Program

Ruri's Program

Back at the clinic...

Ruri came back out with Koromon and Koromon became a new member of the family.

For the family, he has a child-like personality but takes Ruri's safety seriously.

Ruri got happier and started mingling with her mother and houseguests, as long as Koromon was around and took to being an Agumon for efficiency.

Gokudera who's fascinated with UMAs literally grilled him for an interview.

But still...

'It seems when her partner is back, she somewhat recovered.' Reborn commented as Ruri's behavior changed drastically but still can't talk.

'Yes...' said Nana. 'Losing her first friends in such a manner damaged my baby so much...I just hope it goes well...' she really wished her daughter wasn't picked that she'd come back scarred in the worst ways possible at just seven years old...

'I hope so too and maybe finally I can do my darn job.' said Reborn. 'At this rate I'm no more than a freeloader in the house.'

'Its OK Reborn-chan...if we, her parents couldn't do a thing, what more of others? But still, for what happened years ago to affect us all like this...' Nana shook her head in dismay. 'Its our fault too. We didn't take her situation in school seriously...it was just too far-fetched and hard to believe that she no longer tells us anything.'

'Well, its ingrained in us to never take kids seriously until its too late.' said Reborn. 'It happens in real life, not just shown on TV and books. We should show that at least, we're reliable.' Reborn told her. 'Kids like Ruri and Ken clam up when they can't expect anything reliable from adults near them while afflicted by what's troubling them. Ruri's school life and Ken's home life. I hear that most Japanese parents in big-time cities near Tokyo tend to heap pressure on kids regarding education to the point of crushing them mentally and emotionally, leading to runaways or suicide victims that kids away from cities tend to have normal lives living in a carefree manner.'

'I never knew that...' Nana gasped out.

'Now you do. Big-time cities in Japan are harsh and pressuring on kids, resulting in unhappy, rebellious kids.' said Reborn. 'The teachers in her Elementary school probably verbally abused her instead of doing what's right resulting in her initial mentality and the fact her parents didn't believe her so she took matters into her own hands and signed up for Online without your permission.' Nana went gloomy at that.

'Can you contact hunny for me? We need to talk.'

'Its currently lunch time right now so we'll contact him when he's done. Japan is 7 hours ahead of Italy.'

'Oh my...'

'But still, Ruri has a duty to the world of monsters...' Reborn mused. 'She led a double-life behind our backs but who chose her and why children? She was seven in her time and Ryo is four years older. Then those kids are younger than twelve...why children, pair them up with monsters and not adults?'

'That's what I want to know...' Nana moped. 'Ruri got traumatized for it...' Reborn took out his phone and dialed numbers and held it to his ear. 'Ciaossu. Maman wants to talk to you personally about Ruri. There's been a new development. Hear this from maman herself.' Reborn gave his phone to Nana.

/Nana? Did Ruri get better or worser?/ came the anxious question.

'Hunny, we just discovered why Ruri is the way she is.' said Nana. 'Let me talk from start to finish, no interruptions lest I forget something important OK?'

/A-alright.../

Nana told him what happened at their beach vacation and what Ruri had to deal with and the improvement that came with it but will most likely make trips back to the Digimon World until no longer needed.

/Oh crap, seriously?/

'Seriously...her partner is now our houseguest too. He's a good kid who prioritizes Ruri over everything so we'll be alright here. Reborn-chan will send stuff over.'

/Alright...I'll try to see this for myself at Christmas alright? Having a Childhood Vacation off swamped me in backlogged work in triplicate I swear they did this on purpose for having a long vacation! My boss would never do this to me but my subordinates would!/

'Oh my, well, anyone would want a long vacation off work and be envious of who gets it...'

/But this is ridiculous!/ came the childish whine. /I'll make it back in time somehow OK? Love you and say hi to our baby jewel for me!/

'Bye dear!'

'Well, I have to get to work too.' said Reborn, getting his phone back from Nana. 'Yare yare, I wonder why Ruri got called after several years but she recovered somewhat by getting Agumon back after dying for her. This may be good for her and she might get her voice back to seal the deal.' he told Nana. 'I guess we can see this as Occupational Therapy.'

'My daughter fighting monsters is therapy?!'

'Well, its where she's comfortable in...'

xxx

Namichuu, first day after vacation...

'Its been a week since that day...how are things at home?' Yamamoto asked Gokudera.

'Ruri-san started smiling again.' said Gokudera. 'I guess losing people you care for in front of your face while in a fight against a monster that messed with time itself can break anybody like she had...but she got Agumon back and she's started living again instead of being a bedroom hikikomori. She started getting close to her mom again and trying to get along with me by teaching me her computer knowledge.'

He was secretly glad for it. As one aspiring to be her Right-Hand someday, he has to be able to keep up with her and one she trusts most.

'That's good to hear...' said Yamamoto in relief. 'The way she was before that day was worrying...I'll come home with you to your house so I can see she's doing alright.'

'Alright.'

'I bet you grilled her digimon real good since you like UMAs!' Yamamoto laughed while giving him a mischievous look with wiggling eyebrows, causing Gokudera to blush.

'Shut it! But its really fantastic though...' Gokudera swooned. 'A three-feet tall dinosaur that turns into an armed one the size of a building? It's fantastic! He insists he's not an alien though...'

xxx

And so...

'A lot happened while you're in school.' Reborn quipped when the boys' eyes fell on tons of empty shopping bags in the living room while Nana was so happy.

'I think you bought out the shopping mall!' Gokudera cried in disbelief. 'Why?'

'Ruri threw out her plain, dark emo outfits, selling them to the secondhand stores.' Reborn smirked. 'As her tutor, I have to help in fashion-coordinating as long as those fashion rejects are gone. Maman enjoyed herself playing dress-up on Ruri.'

It helps that the family is ridiculously rich thanks to Ruri's Stock Trading skills. Ruri plays for herself while working for clients she likes. And her Hyper Intuition ensures she does great deals too hence her ridiculous personal wealth.

'Oh...'

'So where is she?'

'Off to do work, blocking away researchers so I guess we can split time.' said Reborn. 'I teach her during school hours, and she's off doing work off-school hours.'

'Heee...'

xxx

Meanwhile in Odaiba...a message was sent to D-Terminals of the older generation about a new player in their adventures.

But for now, things were getting interesting.

There's a meeting set up.

Ruri held out a paper that read, 'The others asked to meet me in Odaiba. I can just use the Gate to save up on time and Travel Fees so I will be home on time.'

'Alright dear but don't work alone alright?' Nana fretted as Ruri nodded with a smile before running upstairs with her partner.

'Using dimensions to cheat on travel time...alien tech sure is cool.' Gokudera sweatdropped.

xxx

Odaiba...

"I've never been out of home yet I'm in a big city near Tokyo..." Ruri gulped. "I-I can do this! I put up with months in monster world, I can deal with walking around in Tokyo for sure!" she swore in determination as she carried Koromon inside a sports bag.

She arrived in front of Odaiba Junior High School and waited outside.

Soon, a group of teenagers came out and Ruri looked that they were what they were looking for.

A boy with fluffy hair and wearing goggles as a sign. So she approached him and showed him her digivice.

'Oh! You must be Ruri!' the boy beamed welcomingly. 'I'm Taichi, Hikari's older brother!'

'I'm Yamato, Takeru's older brother.' said the handsome blonde boy.

'I'm Takenouchi Sora!' said the brunette girl.

'I'm Izumi Koshiro, your fellow computer genius.' Koshiro said, shaking her hand. 'I heard that you've been stonewalling the world for years?' Ruri nodded.

'Its because they shouldn't poke where their noses don't belong!' Koromon spoke huffily in her bag. 'If these scientists learned how to access Digimon World, we fear what the so-called Digimon Kaiser did will be playground bullying compared to what they'll do! We can't allow it...that's what Ruri says when the Data-Humans in Digiworld approached her for it a week after your enemy's defeat when research attempts began.'

'Yes, that's a huge possibility of happening.' Koshiro agreed. 'I guess she still can't talk...Ruri, there will come a time when your voice will come back so until then, let's work together with Koromon as your speaker.'

'Let's go to Koshiro's house, we can comfortably talk there.' said Taichi. 'His parents know our situation.'

'Oh, Ruri's mom and houseguests know too.' said Koromon. 'That's why she can freely come here.'

xxx

The arrangement was Koshiro and Ruri are chat buddies so Koshiro can speak for her.

'Sooo let's get down to what we currently know of you.' said Taichi. 'You started at seven, same age as Hikari and Takeru but you're as old as Koshiro...damn its confusing, your enemy messed with time huh?' Ruri nodded. 'And you can somehow digivolve your partner to Ultimate when we lost that ability to seal Apocalymon away...'

'What do you mean?' Ruri asked.

'We used our crests, the only way to digivolve our partners to Ultimate to seal him away since defeating him is impossible.' Yamato said gloomily. 'We can't even digivolve to Mega anymore.'

'Crests you mean those small tags the size of a memory card chip?'

'Yeah, that!' Taichi gasped. 'What's yours?'

'Mine is the Crest of Acceptance while Ryo's was Integrity.' said Ruri. 'But guys, the Crests are just a mere crutch. We have that power regardless of these crutches or not. As long as your Crest Trait is strong in your hearts combined with your strong bonds of trust with your partners, they can still digivolve to their strongest forms. I lost my crest when Millenniummon destroyed our crests, but Agumon and Monodramon could still reach their best levels since we figured it out.' she said. 'We couldn't find Ken's crest on time so back then he was the only one who could not go Ultimate...how can you when you don't know what your strongest trait is, which powers your partner?'

'Prodigious! So in the end, its all in our heads?!' Koshiro gasped at her making her nod.

'So we're not helpless ducks after all...' Taichi mused. 'We relied on our digivice and crests too much and without it, we lose confidence.'

'No kidding...it will take practice though.' said Yamato, clicking his tongue in annoyance. 'That, and a lot of food and no Control Spire around.'

'Well, won't hurt to try.' said Sora. 'Can you go Mega still?'

'We still can. To ShineGreymon.' said Ruri. 'My digivice is installed with anti-hacking programs so Control Spires never affect us. I can do it for you if you like.'

'REALLY?!' the middle schoolers yelped in hope.

'Yup.'

'Prodigious! I must see how this is done!' Koshiro cried in delight.

'For that we need my supercomputer at home. Follow me.'

xxx

Namimori, Ruri's bedroom...

'W-wow...seeing this makes me feel in a sci-fi film...' Sora squeaked as Koshiro looked like he's in toyland as Ruri has so many hardware they can't even name beyond basics taught in school.

'No kidding, I'm not sure I can even use them even if I try.' Taichi sweatdropped.

'How on earth did you afford all this? Is your family rich?' Koshiro choked out, wide-eyed as his D-Terminal beeped to read the reply.

'I work as a Stock Broker earning millions of dollars...WHAT?!' Koshiro gawked as several bug-eyed expressions looked at Ruri.

'S-Stock Trading...?' Yamato squeaked feebly. 'Millions?' he stammered feebly.

'Yup. Its gambling with real money. Only those truly lucky can do this job otherwise some poor schmuck who dares will be so deep in debt it'd take great-great-great grandchildren to pay it off.' Koshiro shook. 'I'm very lucky with this stuff and I know when to give up so I don't lose a single cent. Oh my goodness...yes, mama and papa are surprised packages of my computers came when they don't remember purchasing it, fully paid when the costs are several years' worth of papa's salary...yikes...' he shivered. 'You are scary in a way, Ruri-chan.' Ruri giggled at that as she sent more.

'I'm also purchasing new gadgets since these ones here are so outdated. To be a hacker, you must be up to date with the latest toys of the trade to keep up with wannabe competition and rivals and nobody older than me defeated me so far. Give me your Digivices so I can download my program in. Its also to protect you and your partners from Infection Attempts on you.'

'Ah, a Vaccine Program?' Koshiro asked.

'Yes. My program I slaved over for three years is finally complete...its for Ken-chan's sake.' said Ruri. 'As long as we are in Digimon World, we are converted into Data-Humans, making us prone to being Infected.'

'WHAT?!'

'Its why we feel hunger, thirst and get hurt there and I realized this ugly truth when Millenniummon's spores made Ken-chan ill years ago...this program is to save him from the Dark Spore in his body that corrupted him into being Digimon Kaiser. I just got an e-mail from my colleagues that he is my Ken-chan of years ago.' Koshiro choked out, reading her words. 'My goodness! That means we have to be in Digiworld for the program to work to save Ichijouji-kun!' he exclaimed as it dawned on him. 'The program will never work here in our world!'

Ruri nodded.

'Well, what are we waiting for?' Taichi lit up. 'Let's make an arrangement with him!'

'Er wait, I haven't turned it into a device yet. I said the program is complete but has yet to create a medium for its use and I was thinking creating a pill and bottle of water as its usable form.' Koshiro read out. 'Its not done yet.'

They face-faulted.

'Well for now, let's call the other kids over so they won't have evolution issues.' said Yamato as he took out his D-Terminal.

And so...installing took quite a while...and Ruri's room is quite crowded that the Digimon had to be downstairs...

Gokudera and Nana fawned on the other Digimon present as they were too cute...and Reborn took videos.

That, and because the Digimon can't keep a secret, they learned what Ruri's mystery program was and the true nature of Digimon World which was why it was so easy for Ruri to block away scientists and hackers!


	4. Ruri, Ken and Ryo

Ruri, Ken and Ryo

The mystery that plagued the family for years is finally solved.

Not only that, Reborn has something for Ruri.

Its something bad but he felt that if she gets any form of closure, she might get her voice back.

'Ruri...about Akiyama Ryo...' Reborn certainly got her wide-eyed attention. 'He's in Shinjuku with an entirely different problem.' upon seeing her questioning look, 'He's now a middle-aged man. In a bad state. Wanna see him?'

Dumb question.

Of course she'll go.

xxx

In his home, Ichijouji Ken received a message from a name he never thought he'd see again.

'Go to my house now. I have given you my DigiGate Coordinates. We'll go to Shinjuku General Hospital. Bring partner as a baby.' he read aloud. 'W-why're we going to a hospital...?' he wondered. "And Ruri-nee..."

He was surprised to hear from the others that Ruri worked nonstop in both protecting the Digimon World while looking for her partners and found a cure for his situation.

She felt that whatever Millenniummon shot Ryo with that Ken got in the way of, had EVERYTHING to do with him being a Kaiser and hopes to cure him so he would be free from being 'infected into doing bad things for the enemy' and to stop blaming himself for what was NOT his fault. Because he did not consciously or wanted to do what his Kaiser self did.

She will destroy the Kaiser in him.

He felt relieved that he's not alone, and he would finally be free of his sins.

His big sister found him but she lost her voice out of trauma of 'that day'. And she was now his teammate again since she gained a D-3 like he had.

Its now his turn to protect her. 'Minomon, we're seeing nee-san.' said Ken.

'Ruri? Its been a while Ken-chan!' Minomon lit up in glee, jumping down from his bed and crawled towards him. 'Let's go!'

Ken set up the coordinates to travel to where Ruri was and it was a reunion in her bedroom.

'Ruri-nee, its been three years!' Ken cried while Ruri twitched as she typed a message to his D-Terminal.

'For me it was six years. Blame Millenniummon.' she said. 'I'm just glad we're in the same dimension with Ryo-niichan but...he's an old man in his mid forties now with a severe illness.'

Ken looked at her in horror.

'S-severe illness?'

'Yeah...he is in rehab from severe alcoholism that did a number on his body.' came the messaged reply. 'He apparently got into binge drinking.' Ken's eyes bulged at the words onscreen. 'When investigated, its revealed that his son's into...unsavory illegal things while lying to his face for years and got the family in massive debt. I can easily waive the debt away but the damage is already done. I can save his family from debt by pinning it to the idiot while absolving them of responsibility but the rest is up to him.'

'O-OK...let's go to Shinjuku!'

'I made contact with people close to him. I contacted a Ri Jenrya who's his lawyer...who was also a Digi-destined in his era and Ryo-niichan worked with them before he met us. I opened a Gate through his computer that we can use. Let's go.'

xxx

Ri Law Office...

46 years old Ri Jenrya waited in his office.

He's now a tall man with slicked back hair and a severe countenance. For a Lawyer that chose Finance and Criminal Laws as their fields, danger comes with the job it was good he's a master of martial arts.

And now he got contact from a girl who knew his client...and found out what he is thus contacted him for his client and would go straight to his office using a DigiGate.

Things sure change fast these days!

And now here they are.

'Ooh that's how it works?!' he gasped out as the computer let out a blinding flash and here they are. Two kids with their digimon!

'W-where are we?' Ken gasped out.

'My Law Office,' said Jenrya. 'Sawada Ruri and Ichijouji Ken, right?'

'Yes...you know where Ryo-nii is?' Ken asked him hopefully.

'Well, you should be calling him 'oji-san' you know.' Jenrya chuckled. 'But I suppose he's your big brother since you met him when he was 11...time sure works in funny ways.' he said. 'I'll drive you to the Rehab Center. Maybe Ryo will cheer up upon seeing you two.'

'How bad?' Ken asked nervously.

'He flies off the handle at seeing his own wife and children, barely restrains himself when its us, his fellow Tamers.' said Jenrya, shaking his head. 'His wife coddles the errant boy too much and always defends him when he's clearly in the wrong that got their family in that debt that'd take great-grandchildren in bailing them out of. His daughter is stressed in trying to manage the family company and her real job while he's on rehab.'

'Yikes.'

'Yup, yikes.' said Jenrya agreed grimly. 'We'll gather our old gang. He's always happy seeing us. We'd also like to hear what changed since we were gone.'

'OK...but we'll do the talking.' said Koromon. 'Ruri lost her voice since our final battle...she'll communicate through chat I'll read aloud for her.'

'OK.' Jenrya took out his phone. 'I'll call the others while we walk to the Parking Lot.'

And so...

'Its been a while since we last saw Digimon!' said Matsuda Takato, now married to Matsuda Juri nee Katou as the couple, and Nonaka Rika who's now a famous actress fawned over the two digimon that were currently in their baby forms for convenience.

'Yeah, I miss my Renamon too.' Rika sighed. 'I wonder what happened now...well let's go see him. I just hope its not bad luck like last time!'

'Last time?' Ken blinked with Ruri.

The group winced.

'His wife.' said Rika flatly. 'Gawd, isn't he divorcing her yet? She's living in a delusional fantasy world when their son got their company in hot water with Loan Sharks to fund his gambling addiction and they're heaping insane pressure on his daughter Maemi!'

'Er, Ruri-nee has an idea but whether Ryo-nii accepts it is up to him.' said Ken. 'And how much was it Ruri-nee?'

'Its 920 million yen.' Rika snarked in the answer, answering for the girl as Ken paled while Ruri shuddered. 'Big money no?'

'Well, he shoulda married _you_.' said Takato wryly.

'He got engaged to her, nothing I can do about that.' Rika sighed. 'We broke off amicably.'

'Speaking...'

'Its just not in me to marry since we broke up and I'm 46. Who'll marry an old hag like me waaay past her prime?' Rika sighed. 'Besides, its hard to find a guy who'd marry me as a woman not because I'm an easy money ticket.'

'Yeah, you're a really rich actress.' said Juri.

Upon arriving to a room...

Ruri and Ken saw that their big brother changed oh-so-much when they took a peek.

He's in his forties yet looked older than he should!

'Hey guys!' Ryo greeted. He has more wrinkles and his hair was greying, wearing hospital pajamas.

'Heya! We got a surprise for you!' said Takato with a grin. 'Come in you guys!' Ryo blinked in wonder because his friends were being weird.

Sure enough, two familiar faces showed up to his delight. 'Its a surprise alright!' he laughed in delight. 'Ken! Ruri!'

'Ryo-nii!' the kids jumped on him.

'Good to see ya again Ryo!' Koromon chirped happily.

'Yes, its been years indeed!' Minomon chimed cheerfully.

'Ohh yeah, its been ages! Hahaha!'

'Y'know, this is the happiest we've seen him.' said Juri, seeing Ryo was delighted with the kids and the digimon.

'Yeah, good thing they came on our usual visit day.' said Jenrya in relief. 'Ruri's been looking for Ryo and Ken for years because of the time gap between them caused by Millenniumon even if she wasn't sure they're on the same Earth as she was due to existences of Parallel Worlds.' he told his friends. 'She had that theory when they were taken from different time periods.'

'Heee...'

After things calmed down...

'So, still digidestined huh?' Ryo mused. 'In my time, you weren't born then so it was pointless looking for you guys.' he told the kids. 'But by the time I had children, you were already born and later, you'd meet young me in a time loop meeting and battle against that guy. Now what's going on lately, chibis?'

'Ruri-nee lost her voice since 'that day'.' said Ken. 'But she found a way to cure me of my illness after three years of work.'

'Illness...you mean you haven't recovered since that day?' Ryo frowned.

He recalled that Millenniummon shot out black balls of some sort that Ken pushed them away from.

'Yes...as long as we are in the Digimon World, we are converted into data, becoming Data-Humans.' Koromon piped up, reading from Ruri's laptop. 'We're prone to being affected by attacks of evil Digimon who are Virus-Types as opposed to the Vaccine and Data-Type of our partners. Ken's virus manifested as a program that creates an evil alter-ego controlled into doing what he'd never do. Sure, he was granted super-intelligence and athletic prowess but at the cost of his humanity the more he uses it until finally, the 'bad personality' is the dominant one and Ken-chan himself suppressed. We can cure him in the Digital World as its impossible to cure him in our world.'

'Yes...when I realized that...I was able to suppress it and I became a normal, average boy again.' said Ken. 'I'm no longer a genius everyone praised in school. It took so much from me and I lost a lot because of it and committed crimes in the Digimon World even...' said Ken remorsefully. 'My only hope is Ruri-nee's program.'

'Yeah, she worked on it for years.' said Koromon. 'Bought a lot of stuff just to make it.'

'I see...I'd like to see this with my own eyes.' said Ryo. 'That worries me...what happened to you would have happened to us if you didn't push us away.'

'We can go to the Digital World now if you like.' said Jenrya. 'I brought my laptop with me complete with a strong WiFi, all we need is our Digivices and we're good to go.'

'Alright, we got it.' Rika took out her own Digivice. Takato, Juri and Ryo took out theirs too.

'We'll go to Primary Village.' said Koromon as Ruri set up the gate. 'Its where DigiEggs fall to to be reborn after Digimon die.'

'Reborn...could my Leomon be reborn?' Juri asked, hopeful as she lost her partner too soon.

'Who knows...I hope we see ours too.' said Takato hopefully. Guilmon is practically his child since he created him, then his Digivice brought him to life!...hence his very child-like personality of an innocent toddler that was a handful but Takato wouldn't trade him for anything else.

'DigiGate Open!' Ken commanded as they faced their Digivices at the Gate, thus all of them getting sucked in.

Only Ruri had a costume change.

'W-wow...so many eggs...' Juri gasped out. 'And cribs of baby Digimon!' she exclaimed. 'So cute!'

'Incredible...this didn't exist in our time!' Ryo moaned. 'In my time stuck here, its nothing but a wasteland and rare few villages! Now I see trees and a river not far from here!'

'Well, as long as programs develop fast and internet speed increases, so does this world's growth Ryo-nii.' said Ken. 'If a few days passed by back home, months to years pass by here to keep up with it all.'

'Heee...'

'Well, its time to save Ken now.' said Rika as they remembered what they came here for.

'Oh yeah! Ruri-chan do it!' Ryo said eagerly as Ruri took out her D-Terminal and materialized a red and white pill and a bottle of water.

'...medicine?' they all sweatdropped.

'Well, Ken-chan got infected by a disease, its only common sense to make his antibiotic look like medicine, no?' Minomon pointed out as Ruri handed the items to Ken for consumption.

'At least its nothing weird...' Ken sweatdropped as he banked his self on the medicine to be saved. He took the pill and the quite-chilly water, finishing it all up because it was a program, he can't load programs unfinished!

When the last drop was gone, the bottle became data too and went inside his body.

He then sported what looked like black roots attached to his head that was linked to a black seedling with a spiked head. It wiggled before thrashing around as if in pain, and went about to leave Ken as it retreated its roots from his head...then it wilted and turned to dust.

'Its gone now...so its a black plant...whatever that was?' Jenrya croaked out, wide-eyed.

Ruri rapidly typed in her D-Terminal, looking quite shaken and had Koromon read it.

'It looked like a spore that will flower soon.' said Koromon. 'It grew on the days Ken was the Kaiser. But since the new generation stopped him and changed him back, its growth stopped. Had it bore fruit or had it flowered...it will release more spores to infect as many as possible. I'm glad I worked on that program now...eep!' Koromon yelped.

'That bastard...using Ken to spread his germs to other children...' Ryo growled at the idea. 'That's not right at all!' he swore, holding Ken protectively.

Ken was just as horrified with the idea. More children just like him?

'Well, I'm glad its gone...now I just have to destroy the Control Spires I made as the Kaiser.' said Ken. 'I practically took over Digimon World using those Spires as the Kaiser to prevent evolution while committing crimes...'

'You won't be alone Ken.' Ryo reassured him. 'I'm no longer a Digidestined but Ruri-chan's still with you. You'll be OK.'

'Un.'

'But still, a programmer eh?' Ryo chuckled.

'On the day we returned, Ruri suddenly gained immense computer knowledge.' said Koromon. 'To the point she can block the whole world by herself to keep them away from this world by closing Data Gateways while Data Humans deleted what the government and scientists managed to scrounge. Only Chosen Children with Digivices can access this world on their free will, not under duress. You can come here anytime you like being Chosen. As long as we have Digivices, age really doesn't matter, you're welcome here.'

'Ohhh...that means I can relax here when work gets too hectic!' Rika sighed in relief. 'And no paparazzi stalking me!'

'Me too...you wouldn't believe what I put up with by being a Lawyer specializing in Criminal Law, not just financial issues...' Jenrya grumbled.

'Well, its you who chose Criminal Law when you could be just a Financial Lawyer.' Takato pointed out.

'Yes but hey, dad tells me the more fields I chose that are in demand the better and I'm the dumb one who listened and chose two big headaches.' Jenrya sighed.

'You mean you're hounded by criminals from trying to Prosecute them?' Juri squeaked as Jenrya nodded in annoyance.

'Uhm...about that...' Ken piped up. 'Ryo-nii, Ruri-nee is a Stock Trader.'

'What?!'

'But she's only 13!' Ryo sputtered. 'What're you on about, Ken?' Ruri gave her D-Terminal to Koromon as they looked at the pair.

'Ryo, Ruri's gonna wipe away your company's debt, or hack by making sure only one guy pays for it and not drag your entire family to it.' said Koromon. 'Ruri's rich from Stock Trading 920 million is just a gulp of water to her.'

'ABSOLUTELY NOT!' was Ryo's horrified cry. 'Ruri thank you but asking a kid to wipe my issues away is a crime...' he choked out.

'It won't look good to public ears.' Jenrya agreed. 'But if Ryo gets financial help from a friend, it won't look so bad.'

'Does that mean she can hand over the 920 million plus interest to one of you and pretend to lend it to niichan?' Ken pointed out.

'That'd work,' said Rika.

'I said no!' Ryo moaned.

He didn't get a choice, its six against one. So he reluctantly accepted the money from his Ex-Girlfriend when Ruri forwarded the money to her.

Granted, his company was saved but in utter vexation, ensured his son won't inherit a dime from him and gave what's his to his daughter and gave her a month-long vacation. He still wasn't happy with his wife as he took to drinking fruit and vegetable smoothies in his office since.

In Magazines a week from now, Rika was indeed, followed by stalkers as shown in an article.

'NONAKA RIKA, SEEN VISITING A REHABILITATION CENTER WITH FRIENDS AND KIDS'

The paparazzi even got wind who they visited but thankfully, while the name is censored out, the reason why 'this person was in', was aired out and the fact that Rika used to be his girlfriend before he got engaged by his parents to somebody else, hence they broke off amicably.

Rika just about nearly strangled who wrote the article within hours of reading the magazine had numerous people not pulled her off from the writer.

xxx

Namimori...

'Okaeri, Ruri.' said Reborn. 'How's he doing?'

'Well, we managed to make him accept her help.' said Koromon. 'But due to legal issues, she used her other identities just to forward 920-something million to Rika-san so she can ahem, 'lend' it to Ryo and 'forget charging him back'. Well, its voluntarily-given not borrowed.'

If Koromon had limbs, he would have shrugged.

'Well, its OK now and Ryo-nii cheered up again.' Ruri spoke before pausing, looking surprised with herself. 'Eh?'

'Looks like seeing him got your voice back and I was right.' Reborn smirked. 'I'll tell maman to make Sekihan, shall I?'


	5. Moving On

Moving On

Reborn's theory was proven correct.

Ruri was nothing but a one-track-mind automaton focused on her goals until she got over her issues.

Getting her partner back.

Confirming Ken was OK and alive.

Confirming Ryo was alive as well.

Her trauma healed from it enabling her to have her voice and 'heart' back that indeed, Nana cooked up to celebrate and doted on her daughter. And her old personality was back they figured that her personality was destroyed by being split-apart when she thought they were lost forever. It was an interesting report to send back home. It was a good call to find Akiyama Ryo. Agumon has her Heart. Ken has her Consciousness, Ryo has her Voice and her Personality. If Ken was infected, her power over computers most likely came with the cost of 95% of herself.

Perhaps, he and Gokudera can do their damn job now.

When they opened the topic to her...

Turns out she already knew.

'What? I do business with them as their Stock Trader you know.' said Ruri. 'And since my allies are concerned with who I work with, they dove down for me so nothing gets traced back to me because even pro hackers leave a trace no matter how small. They helped me figure who's safe and who's not to work with. So in the end I chose some families to work for. Vongola, and Cavallone among them.'

'You mean when Dino's selling stocks, you're the one who got him ten million Euros and more?' Reborn asked her numbly.

'Yes. Well, the moron who bought it was so sure buying that company off Cavallone-san would earn him money clearly didn't do research...there IS a reason he's willing to sell it off!' Ruri rolled her eyes. 'Cavallone-san was laughing his ass off and paid me 700 grand.'

Reborn and Gokudera exchanged looks.

'Well for mafia, you sure aren't anything like how movies portray you but some sure are going stereotypical.' Ruri pursed her lips and crossed her arms. 'They want me to work for them if I enriched a near-bankrupt Cavallone but I'm great at running.'

'That's good to hear at least but do know you're getting lessons from me now, and for Gokudera to truly function as your first Guardian.' said Reborn. 'Agumon is your DigiWorld Guardian, Gokudera and people who chose you as their leader will be your Guardians in the Real World.'

'Sigh...so much for being just a hacking Stock Trader...I just wish grandpa's sons weren't so _stupid_...'

'You and us both.' said Reborn flatly. 'Overconfidence and arrogance of being a Vongola cost them more than they imagined.'

'Well, we'll go about it in the morning and Hayato's training will continue with me as well.' said Ruri. 'He has to keep up with me since if he wants to be my right hand, he has to be as good.'

'I won't disappoint, Ruri-san!' Gokudera told her in determination.

'Take note it took me six years, alright? Not to mention we have to keep up-to-date with the latest toys in the market...'

'Er what about Stock Trading?'

'You need to be born lucky in that job and it can get addicting if you earn big too much, kinda like gambling on a casino so I only rarely do it when I see a really big deal.' Ruri shook her head. 'Its addicting and not in a good way especially if money keeps raining on you so often even a humble person will become greedy and amorous for money I'm just glad being what I am keeps me from addiction.'

'You mean being a DigiDestined keeps you safe in some way?' Gokudera asked her, intrigued as he and Reborn perked up over the intel.

'Yes. Because it keeps you away from typical human corruptible influences like addiction and stuff. It feels like you'll never be a bad kid ever again unless like Ken-chan you're corrupted by an evil digimon in DigiWorld so that's one thing to look out for.'

'In short, nothing in the real world, yet only evil digimon can corrupt DigiDestineds.' Reborn commented. 'That's good to know. And perhaps you and Dino should meet in the future at some point. In the meantime, try going out.'

'I'm swamped with clients. Look.' she showed them a full screen of nine windows, two of whom bore familiar names, Vongola and Cavallone. 'Going out can wait. If you think I have only nine clients, look at the number at the bottom right, that's on the waiting list.'

70\. 70 right behind these nine people onscreen!

'...'

'Sooo what was it this time?' Gokudera asked.

'They want me to sell stuff to gullible idiots and milk them dry and I'll get paid as usual. Really, what are they spending their money on aside Subordinate Paychecks and upkeep of all properties?'

'That's Omerta-classified, I'm sure.' Reborn chuckled. 'You're still a Donna-in-Training so you're not privy to know that yet.'

This should be easy.

xxx

On a weekend...

Gokudera finally got Ruri to go out when work was finished.

Due to the situation, he got trained hard by Reborn to protect her.

'...its been years since I'm outside the house.' Ruri mused as Gokudera and Yamamoto walked out with her. 'Our days at the beach don't count since all I did was train anyway.'

'Yeah, you got awesome legs girls would kill to have.' Yamamoto complemented good-naturedly as his and Gokudera's eyes fell on her shapely legs and toned arms that were attractive to look at. Due to her idea of exercise, she has no baby fat whatsoever like most girls her age who'd still have some. For sports junkies like Yamamoto, he's more muscle than fat. For Gokudera who buys bombs more than food, he wouldn't have any either, and only started gaining weight and muscle when Reborn took him to task.

'...awesome? This?' Ruri looked at her own legs covered in form-fitting pants.

'You really should go out more so you'd know beauty standards these days.' Gokudera sweatdropped.

'...I wouldn't know, mom and Reborn took charge of my closet and getting me a haircut.'

From the Onryo look she once had, her fringes now frame her face asymmetrically parted from the right, and her long hair is layered that if one looks at her back, they'd see that the sides are shortened and goes longer the further into the middle you go and her hair now reached above her waist, rounded at the bottom.

Reborn ensured her hair that was cut off was burned to keep it safe from attempts of messing with DNA.

Their job is to get her out and explore her hometown she barely knew about due to being a recluse.

Exploring the town, then take a good look at Namichuu, a school she'll soon attend come spring next year. She can't be a Hikikomori forever after all.

They got to Namichuu by sunset...but got spotted by a certain Prefect from his office.

Thus was this.

He got down in five minutes flat to confront them.

'Yabe! Hibari's here even on weekends?!' Yamamoto sweatdropped, nervously bracing himself for pain.

'What are you doing here on weekends?' Hibari demanded, still in his uniform. He sees these two and he knows all faces of students in his school but not the girl with a pink stuffed toy. He's never seen her before.

His eyes fell on her arms and legs instantly.

He knows her form is good but the way she carried herself means she's no fighter but at least keeps herself fit.

'Could say the same to you!' Gokudera retorted. 'Ruri-san this weirdo here is the resident Prefect, Hibari Kyouya. He's here even on weekends!'

'Hello.' Ruri politely. 'I'll be here next spring.'

Suddenly they smelled something stinky.

Koromon FARTED.

'Ruri! I gotta go!' so much for being a stuffed toy. Koromon was panicking.

Hibari's expression was priceless when Koromon wailed.

'Ahhh where's the toilet?!' Ruri panicked. 'Don't do it on the school grounds!'

'This way! Hold it in Koromon!' Yamamoto wailed as they took her to the nearest bathroom.

'You brought an alien to school?!' Hibari was utterly flummoxed. He's encountered many things as a prefect and now there's this?!

And so...

'Sigh...that felt great...' Koromon sighed wistfully as Ruri flushed the toilet after he did his business.

'OK, explain, now!' Hibari glowered at them, promising pain if they didn't! 'Is she human or alien?!' he demanded while wary of Ruri, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

'I'm human but my partner is a Digimon. Short for Digital Monster.' said Ruri. 'The Digimon World occasionally chooses kids with certain traits and pairs them up with a Digimon compatible with them and taken to the other world for a task.'

'...I don't see that mochi with antenna able to do his job.' Hibari stated flatly while looking at Koromon whom he finds cute.

'How rude! I mostly stay in this form for convenience in your world since if I grow up, its attention-grabbing!' Koromon huffed. 'And it takes a while to De-Digivolve to my baby state too! My adult form is big enough to crush you under my foot!'

'Hooo?' Hibari smirked challengingly. 'Show me, little animal.'

'Koromon...' Ruri said warningly. 'Uhm senpai, Koromon's adult form GeoGreymon is **as tall as the school building** , it won't be wise to see him grow...' she said sheepishly, causing Hibari to twitch. 'The people will panic since he's so visible. And it takes hours to de-digivolve back to baby. Maybe when there's trouble you'll see him grow.' she smiled. 'But trouble tends to cause _intense property damage_...'

Hibari twitched.

xxx

Back home...

'Man its a miracle we got away from Hibari unscathed...he's got this biting fetish going on.' Gokudera sighed in relief as Yamamoto left them to go home. 'We're just glad he only targets rulebreakers.'

'...' "I don't get it." she thought as she looked sheepish. 'Well, as long as we're out of trouble its OK.' said Ruri. 'Its what's important.'

Because of Ruri's duties, she wasn't called much, but sometimes, she goes on her way to destroy the Control Spires using RizeGreymon, taking Gokudera and Yamamoto with her for a ride, riding on RizeGreymon's back and they found the experience cool. Reborn could not come with them as he gets rejected.

'DigiWorld only accepts kids and the only adults allowed in here are former chosens who still have their Digivices.' Ruri stated.

'That really doesn't do well for my mellow.' said Reborn wryly.

The world only accepts children who are still pure, and untainted with worldly evils because as children its where their most powerful virtues show in its purest form. Ruri's was Acceptance as she is a Sky but turned into Rejection due to being bullied and when she was splintered. Ken was Kindness but when infected it became Cruelty. Ryo was Integrity but his son and his wife caused a strong Division in his family.

She got wind from her helpers what the Spires are for.

It was imprisoning the Four Harmonious Ones(the ones choosing the DigiDestined) and disrupt the boundary between the Human and Digital World so that Myotismon, her successors' enemy could return and conquer it. In response, the Four Harmonious Ones created the Digi-Eggs using the Crests as templates, so that their chosen Digimon would have the power to stop the Digimon Kaiser who was building them under the influence of the enemy.

That got her pissed as this was Child Exploitation in some way by bad guys but also by the good guys. Can't the head honchos clean their mess by themselves?

Maybe they're too 'beyond mortals' they can't empathize with Digimon anymore that the system of child + digimon had to be done.

One day...she got an alarm using her private line that she installed to connect her to Koshiro during her classes with Gokudera under Reborn.

/Ruri-san, the others came back quite hurt reporting that Arukenimon used 100 Control Spires to create Black WarGreymon...its too much for them and you're the only one who can go Mega right now. Can you come with them next time?/ Koshiro asked urgently as Ruri scrambled off her bed to get to her headset on her desk to talk to him.

'Alright. I did say you can call me for extreme measures but there's a price...you'll watch my system in my stead while I'm gone. My battle with curious idiots is not over yet and we got our hands full. I swear I'm gonna create a virus and _reboot their system to factory settings_ if they don't leave well enough alone!' Koshiro balked at the threat, Gokudera gawked at her and Reborn stiffened. Such a thing will cause worldwide chaos! 'They're annoying!' Ruri complained.

/L-let's not go that far.../ Koshiro sweatdropped fearfully. /We need their programs to run the world's security, the media and the internet you know...I'll determine when they can go so you can go with them at the same time. But how can you go Mega? We'd need to know how./

'I figured how to access the old technique of the Digimon Tamers. Biomerge Digivolution. In layman's terms, I will become data and merge with Agumon, both our data and digivice combining to become our Mega-Class Form. In that state, I'm the one fighting using ShineGreymon's powers while he is still conscious and can talk.' this earned her three incredulous stares as her words sunk in into their brains. 'I tried configuring Ken-chan's digivice to activate it but I keep getting rejected and the Data-Humans say his Mega Form is meant to be a combination with a fellow digimon so nothing I can do about that. I'll look into yours and hopefully its not as troublesome as Ken-chan's is.'

/Prodigious...when we're all free I hope we get to see this technique./ said Koshiro hopefully. /We might need it too one day./

'That'd take incredible scheduling since you all have stuff to do.'

/Indeed. We'll book a particular day for the demonstration alright?/

'OK.'

/They'll call you when they're gonna go. I linked them to your private hotline. Ja./ and he was gone.

'Ruri-san, that state...what if you get hurt?' Gokudera squeaked out.

'That's normal...I nearly get killed a lot at seven years old you know.' and she was used to nearly-dying and so nonchalant about it!

'R-Reborn-san...that's not normal...' Gokudera shook, shaken by her casual dismissal of being near-death when normally anyone would fear dying.

'There's clearly no Counseling and Therapy for being a DigiDestined.' said Reborn flatly.

That, and fearlessness in doing their duties may possibly be 'installed' in the children.

xxx

She didn't wait to be called.

Instead, she searched for Black WarGreymon. 'Found him!'

'You're seriously going to fight?' Reborn asked Ruri.

'The Destiny Stones help the Harmonious Ones keep the DigiWorld in check. They're the DigiWorld equivalent of Genbu, Suzaku, Seiryu and Byakko and one other who represents the Taijitu Fanron. If he keeps wrecking these stones, the world might need another Reboot and we can't have that. The Digimon World was Rebooted once three years ago because Apocalymon wrecked the place real good while fighting my successors. I can imagine what happened to the info network with what he's done.' he said. 'Agumon, time to play!'

'Coming! I ate a lot this lunch just for this!' said Agumon excitedly.

'Good kid! Let's get out! DigiGate Open!' and the two are absorbed in.

'Leon, get recording.' Reborn muttered darkly as Ruri and Agumon appeared in the desert...

xxx

The Desert...

Black WarGreymon was walking when Ruri and Agumon came out of hiding to face him.

'Who are you? Are you here to fight me?' he asked her.

'Before I oblige, I want to talk.' said Ruri. 'For starters, I understand that while you may be born of a Control Spire, it seems that somewhere during your birth, you gained your own free will. So, why obey the order to destroy the Destiny Stones?'

'...even if I don't want to, my body moves on its own unless I have a desire to fight. Only then can I have my free control and freedom back, only to lose it again.' said Black WarGreymon. 'Fight me.'

'Very well.' Ruri raised her Digivice. 'Biomerge Evolution!'

Outside the computer, Reborn saw how it happens, while recording with Leon.

"Unbelievable..." he thought. "Willingly becoming data to merge with her Digimon..." they became the entity she was calling ShineGreymon. A humanoid dragon covered in red and white armor, wearing a golden helmet with three horns and red markings on the helmet mask and tips of the two horns in the back. Its frontal horn in the front is shaped like a blade. It has golden braces on its wrists and ankles, three golden claws are located on its knuckles near the back hand, and golden talons located on its feet. It has six red folded armored wings which looks almost angelic when opened, and has a fire design on the covert of the wings. It has a long armored tail with a sun symbol on the tip of it. It has spikes located on its kneecap, and wears tire-like shoulder pads with blade-like spikes that are shown towards the front. It has lenses located on it's abdomen, wings and back.

Its form is marvelously befitting of a Mafia Boss.

And the fight, was brutal. As expected of his student.

Digimon have limited capabilities and fighting knowledge, limited to their creation and concept. But by merging with a human who can use their powers...yep, this is the result. Ruri clearly knows how to fight but by Mafia Standards, this is kind of slow, something he'll rectify real soon as Gokudera is now stronger than she in combat, she merely exceeded him in physical prowess.

In the Desert...

Black WarGreymon was very happy that he gets a real fight and his freedom time is much longer.

But ShineGreymon was stronger and a better fighter. Could this be the result of merging with his human?

But at any rate, death is just as welcome as a good fight. It means he'll be very free. Its all he wants.

When ShineGreymon delivered the fatal blow...he was dying and ShineGreymon let him die in his arms out of kindness just to show he wasn't alone.

'ShineGreymon...thank you.' he said weakly in gratefulness. 'With this...I'm truly free. I just hope one day I become a real Digimon, not a mere construct who doesn't feel alive while existing.' and he was gone.

'...Arukenimon and Mummymon...you'll pay for this.' ShineGreymon swore angrily. 'Black WarGreymon may be born out of a virus statue but he was innocent with a pure soul of a newborn despite what he was. He was nothing like your other fake digimon who are only wind-up dolls to your will. He was a miracle born with a heart. A sad heart whose only wish was to actually feel he was alive and be free.'

She sent messages to the other kids using her sheer will alone.

'Ruri...' Reborn mused as he saw the text on the chat screen. His student really is one of a kind and being what she was keeps her heart pure so her upbringing must be taken of with great care lest she becomes Rejection again.

xxx

'Ruri-san defeated Black WarGreymon.' said Koshiro as at a park, the middle schoolers met up.

'An enemy none of us can defeat right now since we're still trying to go Mega.' said Taichi. 'She can do it so easily too...'

'Right now she's our strongest,' said Sora. 'But we can't be left behind incase all of us are needed.'

'Let's plan a meeting guys.' said Joe. 'As a senior, I got High School Entrance Exams ahead of me and Cram School dad chucked me to. A day or two when ALL of us are free.'

'Must be hard being a senior.' Yamato chuckled as Joe glared at him.

'You say that now, wait till you're a third year.' he grumbled. 'You'll be complaining as much as I do.'

On the other hand, the other half of the new Chosens haven't seen Ruri's message yet due to being in trouble with the Dark Ocean...only Daisuke, Takeru and Iori has seen it in their homes.

That, and how angry Ruri was about the matter.


	6. Invasive Procedure

Invasive Procedure

December 20...

Iemitsu came home...with a Guest in tow.

Scratch that, A LOT OF GUESTS.

That explains why Mama cooked a lot that day.

'Ruri! My baby's back!' Iemitsu cried while glomping his daughter, happy her self was back to normal again.

'Hey! Not too tight buster! She's turning blue!' Agumon yelled, chasing him off by breathing fire.

'I got every right for a happy reunion you overgrown lizard!' Iemitsu shrieked, dodging the fire.

'Hugs and Constricting are too entirely different things you idiot!'

'So that's Agumon...' Timoteo mused as they saw the digimon argue with Iemitsu.

'Wow, what's that?' Dino croaked out, seeing a talking dinosaur in the living room.

'Its a Digimon.' said Reborn. 'Your junior is in a unique situation.' he said wryly. 'And meet your Stock Trader while you're at it. You don't know her identity right?'

'Ehhhh?!' Dino, Romario and his two bodyguards gaped at Ruri who's the LEAST LIKELY to be a Stock Trader.

'Nice to see you in person, Cavallone-san,' said Ruri. 'I already met grandpa once so at least I know who I was working with.'

'Hoho! Having you was of great help Ruri-chan.' Timoteo chuckled jovially. 'It was hard getting rid of _those_ in exchange for a good sum.'

'Its easy to find morons online.' said Ruri. 'They like to gamble but gambling is best left to those born lucky. Those with average luck will just be poorer than dirt.'

'But still its kinda tough...how do you do it?' Dino asked her.

'Know when to fold it when you got a good deal.' Ruri smiled ruefully. 'Being greedy will make you lose a deal or worse, both the deal and a good chunk of your own money and if you're just plain unlucky, be bankrupt. Greed is the typical illness of a Stock Trader and Gambler.'

'Yet being a DigiDestined keeps Ru-chan level-headed and grounded~' Nana smiled as she offered tea and snacks. 'But Ruri, no gambling OK?'

'Stock Trading IS gambling in a different, legal business form mom.' Ruri giggled. 'I've been gambling for years.'

'Honey!' Nana cried, appalled.

'Well, rest assured I never lost not even once since I know when to quit when I sense I'm about to lose.' said Ruri sheepishly. 'Well, for now I'm going out with Agumon.'

'Eh?! We just got here!' Iemitsu cried in protest.

'I promised something to someone, I didn't know you'd be coming today.' said Ruri.

'Ah, that promise with Hibari huh?' Reborn mused. ' **A perfect chance to gain his respect as he only respects power, being a Cloud.** ' he mused in Italian that got the men listening. 'Its a date we can't break.'

'Date?!'

'In school since nobody will be around and outside. He wanted to see how much of a carnivore I can be...what a weird man.' Ruri shook her head. 'Is this the biting fetish Gokudera spoke of?' she wondered innocently, unaware of how the adults see those words.

All adults choked as those two words translated differently in their heads.

'Eh no Ruri-san. Bite to death, his catchphrase means he'll beat the snot out of whoever breaks rules.' Gokudera clarified, seeing the red faces of the adults in the house. 'That's what I meant by 'biting fetish'.'

They calmed down with a sigh of relief.

'Really, what a weird man.'

'You and us and the whole school both.' Gokudera snorted, crossing his arms. 'Shall we go?'

'I'd love to see this.' said Timoteo. 'Seeing video feeds and the real thing are two entirely different things.'

'Yes...I've seen things too whenever Ruri goes out but its always in Ultimate, I've never seen the Champion Form.' said Nana.

'How about we go Mega, their strongest form?' Reborn smirked. 'Its a form worthy of Ruri. I haven't sent my last video yet since I'm working on making it clearer to watch...'

xxx

School...

The adults are hiding from a nice spot in the grounds, while Ruri and the boys took place in the grounds.

'You made it on time, little alien.' Hibari said as they arrived.

'For the last time Ruri-san is human you ignoramus!' Gokudera fumed as Hibari glared at him, ready to beat him when Yamamoto, the cool guy got between them both.

'Now now guys, chill! Its christmas season!' Yamamoto chimed. 'Be nice to each other for once! Besides, seeing the Mega Form in our world is a real treat!'

'Mega?' Hibari frowned.

'The Champion Form will make the neighbors freak out since I **am** a dinosaur.' said Agumon. 'But my Mega Form...their kids will just think somebody put a life-sized robot for an exhibition and just ignore it. Its much safer.' he explained. From the bushes, Timoteo instructed Bouche to put up an illusion to hide what's going to happen, putting a wide Mist Barrier over school.

'You're not a robot in your Mega form, you're an armored dragonoid, OK?' Ruri pinched his cheek with a playful smile. 'After this, I'll give you a free ride in Digimon World on my back!' she took out her Digivice. 'Biomerge Evolution!'

As she spoke that command, bright, yellow-orange light came out of her body as her digivice vanished, showing only her silhouette as she and Agumon merged together with him crying, 'Agumon digivolve to...' he morphed into a humanoid dragon creature with pieces of armor and equipment appearing out of nowhere, sticking to his body from the feet all the way up to his head, and his red thruster-wings burst out of his back and struck a macho pose worthy of a knight. '...to ShineGreymon!'

And ShineGreymon is a sixteen meter tall digimon.

'W-wow!' Yamamoto gasped as they gawked at the digimon.

'Wao...so that mochi can become something like this...' Hibari mused, amazed.

'I'm not a mochi!' ShineGreymon grumbled.

'ShineGreymon...' Ruri spoke in a chiding, warning tone. Even creepier, their voices overlapped each other's it was easy to tell who's speaking and who's not.

'H-holy smokes!' Dino squeaked as jaws dropped. 'That's gorgeous! That's so cool!' he gushed out like a kid seeing a new toy.

'See? Worthy of Ruri, no?' Reborn smirked.

'W-where did my baby go?!' Nana gulped as Ruri was gone.

'Biomerge means...a chosen and their digimon _become one entity_.' said Reborn. 'Agumon becomes ShineGreymon through her at the expense of her controlling their body and power. She herself fights. As a result, fighting power boosts tremendously as Ruri knows how to fight and use the power more efficiently while if its Agumon alone in his Champion and Ultimate forms, his battle tactics leave much to be desired, just efficient enough to get the job done.' he explained. 'However, this also means she's the one getting hurt, not her _wearable_ _partner_.'

'Eep...' Iemitsu whimpered. 'Can't she do something?! She's a great programmer!'

'She no longer can, as Millenniummon destroyed her Crest, destroying the ability to become Mega normally which was why Agumon decided to pay a big price that led to Ruri's trauma to save them all and took down their enemy with him.' said Reborn grimly. 'So she obtained the Biomerge Technology from the Digimon Tamers, with the help of Ri Jenrya's father for the sake of digivolving to Mega Form. Akiyama Ryo, after their adventure got into another crisis with more children in Shinjuku three decades ago where they obtained this ability.' Reborn explained. 'Ri Jenrya was one of these children along with his little sister Shiuchon, Matsuki Takato, Katou Juri, Nonaka Rika, Shioda Kazu and Kitagawa Kenta. And being chosen, they can visit the other world anytime even as adults. They are welcome being former heroes who destroyed the D-Reaper, a powerful erasing program that gained sentience that nearly destroyed both worlds three decades ago.'

'Yikes...what if...' Dino asked the silent question as he left his words hanging.

'...she doesn't care as long as she gets the job done.' said Reborn grimly. 'That's the problem. Ruri, and other chosen children will do anything for their duty to the other world. Its a trait ingrained in all of them to the point she can casually dismiss dying at seven years old as if its a fart in the air.' he griped to his horrified listeners.

'These children are all pure hearted, and protected from Real World Corruption to do their jobs such as becoming bad teenagers with bad habits. They remain pure hearted even as adults evident in the first generation as having pure hearts gives them a strong bond with their Digimon. And if the Digimon dies, their human partners receive damage with Ruri's childhood as a nasty example until he was reborn again and reuniting with him healed a part of her broken spirit. And the effects of this damage depends on their Virtue Crest that powers them granted by the DigiWorld's Godly Representations. Ruri's Crest is Acceptance. That trait became Rejection out of digital corruption from the spiritual damage, rejecting everyone and everything out of her pain and loss nobody'd understand thus unable to help her and she knew it. Her childhood is Rejection embodied.'

Nana and Iemitsu choked at the reminder of what they had to put up with.

'What can we do about that?' Timoteo frowned as to be a Sky, you accept, not reject. 'That's bad.'

'We can only raise Ruri properly, making sure she doesn't regress to Rejection again. Keeping Agumon alive is a priority. Its also her priority as she went as far as obtaining Biomerge just so ShineGreymon won't sacrifice himself again. ShineGreymon has a last-resort, powerful _Armageddon_ attack at the cost of his life. Like their partners, the Digimon will act to protect their partners no matter what method while doing their jobs. Clearly as even Gokudera can see, there's no therapists and counseling in this line of work, we have to emotionally support her. Now that we know the situation, we can do it so she can't regress badly if anything happens to Agumon and her two friends again.'

xxx

Digimon World...

Hibari can't believe his eyes.

He's in a different world, riding on a giant monster's back, and they're in Primary Village.

'Hey there!' Elecmon greeted, carrying fish. 'Nice to see you again! But I don't think these guys are like you though.' he said, eyeing the boys as the babies all lined up to get food. 'Come on, there's enough for everybody, no pushing~' he said in a cooing manner, opening his sack of fish and giving all babies two fish each as the babies gathered around him wanting food.

'...what's this?' Hibari blinked at the sight.

'This is Primary Village where deceased Digimon come to, reborn as Digi Eggs and hatch as babies.' said Yamamoto. 'Cute aren't they? Elecmon is practically their dad. He raises and educates them until they're strong enough to digivolve to Child Form and leave the nest. He's all babies' Substitute Parent.'

'...' Hibari was intently watching the babies. They were too cute! He stepped forward to get closer.

'Er, Hibari?' Gokudera asked but Hibari didn't listen.

'I think for all his appearance, not even he can resist what's cute.' Ruri giggled. Hibari watched to get closer.

Then they walked around on foot, showing Hibari the world, and what's edible and what's not. Meat Apples, Digi Mushrooms, Vending Machines that sell meat...they can even fish and eat said fish!

But with strange effects on them.

'I feel weird eating food here.' said Gokudera. 'We've never eaten here before.' he said, eating a Deluxe Mushroom. They roasted what they could find.

'Well, food here has positive effects on consumers.' said Ruri. 'That its almost magical. Some foods have effects we'd carry on to the Real World, some just makes us full.'

'Heee...I feel cheerful eating this apple.' Yamamoto chirped, eating a Blue Apple.

'I feel stronger eating this weird heart-shaped Yam.' Hibari mused thoughtfully, gladly eating the Yam.

'That's _Muscle_ Yam for a reason...' Ruri sweatdropped as Hibari perked up and gladly ate the whole thing. 'Your body's muscles get stronger per Yam but they're a rare find we're lucky to find one. In fact, what we found are all super rare as what Digimon and humans like us usually find is fish, this mushroom and meat.' said Ruri, holding up a black mushroom with white spots.

In their collection is Deluxe Mushrooms, Muscle Yams, Blue Apples, Super Carrots, Hawk Radishes, Sweet Nuts and Digi Mushrooms from the flora. While the Digi Mushroom is so common, the others are a rare breed.

'That thing Gokudera ate just now improves your stats by 10%. Blue Apple can make even a grouch cheerful. Hibari's Muscle Yam not just makes muscles stronger, it increases strength too. For now, eat the beneficial stuff. I've had my fair share when I was a child with my partners...its easy to see how Ryo-nii could own his own company if only his dodo-brain of a son didn't bankrupt it by embezzling funds to fund his gambling addiction.' she sighed. 'Integrity means he's a reliable and trustworthy partner in business. Combined with eating Deluxe Mushrooms, he became one hell of a businessman while Ken-chan and I became intelligent. You guys might want some. Stronger brains means you can be more capable. You can do things you never thought you could do if more of your potential is released by eating it. Do you know that humans only have access to less than 30% of their brain potentials? If you eat that, percentage released and granted increases.'

'Its like doping in a weird way...' Yamamoto sweatdropped.

'Its not. Doping can never release full potential of humans. Only grant temporary grant of prowess then lose it again while suffering withdrawal symptoms. Deluxe Mushroom never does that while giving you all the goods you need in life.' Ruri clarified. 'Its in human nature to get what advantages them be it legally or not. The only reason I'm not eating it anymore is because I have full access to 100% of my brain which is why I can block the whole world from trying to get to this world to protect it. My brain can think of ways quickly and out-hack them in hacking when I gained immense knowledge of computers crammed into my head somehow. That was after I got back to this world...no human, no digimon and no data-human has such ability to do immense Knowledge Transfer...to this day I have no idea who did it for me but whoever they are probably detected invasion threat and had me play Gatekeeper. They knew I had too many mushrooms to do that job.'

'That's pretty scary in a way.' said Gokudera uncomfortably. 'Before you became flesh and blood in the real world...something just installed a program in you while you're still on transition from Data-Human to Human.'

Awkward silence ensued.

Ruri grimaced.

'I know. But I don't want to know what will happen to me if I fail.' said Ruri. 'So I do my job diligently...and while I'm the smartest human on Earth right now, arrogance and overconfidence is beyond me as well thanks to my status. Because overconfidence and arrogance led many to their downfall in a humiliating and devastating way and as Gatekeeper, I am safe from typical personality traps. Not only that, the 'smartest human' thingy is only limited to computers and data while I'm normal everywhere else. Its as you say Gokudera. I'm hacked and programmed because I'm trusted with the job somehow.' she said to her friends' horror while Hibari narrowed his eyes.

'That's worrying Ruri.' said Agumon. 'For now you're doing fine but there will come a time when things will be too much for you, you know.'

'I know. That's why I can't fail in my job until I reached my limits. Curiosity WILL kill the cat if I screwed up on purpose and I'll be that very dead cat so I won't dare to try.'

From afar, something small was watching them with its focused eyes.

Something canine.

xxx

'...that looks bad.' Visconti frowned as they saw the chat box words from a Leon-projector. 'She's modified.'

'...I'm at a loss myself and we're the parents.' Nana moped.

'For now, let's think of it as a good thing. A boon in her future as an adult.' said Reborn. 'Thinking about the bad can wait. She can be many things and have a bright future.'

Yes but can she juggle both the stress of adulthood and her Gatekeeping Duty? Protecting a world from the world's scientists and hackers?' Timoteo frowned. 'They may each have varying levels of success against her but combine all that they'll have the ability to pressure her and force their way through. But...suddenly while giving her friends a tour, they find many Deluxe Mushrooms? I don't think that's a coincidence.'


End file.
